This year's Pancyprian Entrance Examinations painted a picture of two very different realities in Cyprus' public universities.
While some candidates needed near-perfect marks to secure a place, others were admitted with single-digit scores, reflecting significant disparities in demand among degree programmes.
According to an analysis by Politis, 19 candidates gained admission with scores below 10/20, with the lowest entry mark standing at 8.00/20.
Seven programmes below the pass mark
Seven university programmes recorded final admitted students with grades below 10/20:
- Classical Studies: 8.00/20
- Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies: 8.03/20
- History and Archaeology: 8.74/20
- Philosophy: 9.42/20
- Three specialisations within Agricultural Sciences at Cyprus University of Technology (CUT): between 8.00/20 and 9.47/20
Of the 19 candidates admitted with scores below the pass mark, 11 secured places in the Agricultural Sciences programmes at CUT.
From nearly 20 to just 8
Some programmes displayed enormous disparities between the highest and lowest admitted candidates.
In Classical Studies at the University of Cyprus, the top entrant achieved 19.93/20, while the last admitted student entered with 8.00/20, a gap of almost 12 points, the largest recorded this year.
A similar pattern emerged in Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, where scores ranged from 19.07/20 down to 8.03/20.
The figures suggest that while these programmes continue to attract some high-achieving students who select them deliberately, overall demand remains insufficient to keep entry requirements high across all available places.
Where everyone was a top performer
At the other end of the spectrum were highly competitive programmes where virtually all successful candidates achieved exceptional results.
In Psychology at the University of Cyprus, successful applicants recorded scores ranging from 19.59/20 to 19.02/20, a difference of just 0.56 points between first and last admitted students.
The same trend was evident in Medicine, which recorded the highest entry threshold among all programmes, with the final admitted student entering on 19.24/20.
Demand remains the key factor
The 2026 admissions results once again demonstrate that entry thresholds are driven largely by student demand.
Where competition for places remains intense, even the final admitted candidate must achieve near-perfect results. In programmes attracting fewer applicants relative to available places, entry scores can fall sharply, in some cases below the 10/20 pass mark.
